Side Effects of Imprisonment
by drwhofangirl591
Summary: The Imp comes out to play when Mr. Gold is once again locked up at the sheriff's station with Killian Jones as his neighboring cellmate.


**A/N: I own nothing but love and respect for these characters and their creators.**

Emma slammed the cell door shut with a loud clang. "Get comfy Gold."

The irate pawnshop owner clung to the bars and stared after the sheriff. "This is ridiculous! I demand to be released!"

Belle stood on the other side of the sheriff's station gazing at him with a mix of pity and disapproval. She turned to Emma and asked if she could speak with Gold, Emma nodded.

Belle hesitantly approached his cell as Emma went to store Gold's personal effects, "Emma and I agreed that this is for the best. You can't continue to hurt people and expect to get away with it." Her eyes were brimming with tears as Rumplestiltskin glared at her through the bars. "Please try to understand Rum."

"Oh I understand everything dearie," Gold snarled, his voice briefly taking on the eccentric mocking tone of his former self. Belle cringed, flinching away from him. He realized what he had done and quickly regained his composure. "I was only defending you from that brute, sweetheart." He pointed to the neighboring cell where Killian Jones was watching the exchange in amusement.

Emma reappeared beside Belle, "But _he_ was already locked up so there was no reason for you to come down here. You know how you get around him."

"I came down here to ensure that he was securely locked away so that a certain someone wouldn't be able to release him." Gold countered. "Is it really my fault that he can't keep his mouth shut?"

Emma shook her head, "You assaulted, albeit magically, an unarmed man who was already behind bars. Just be glad I'm not charging you with attempted murder."

"I appreciate that," he replied sarcastically.

"Personally I'm tired of the two of you fighting and if it takes locking you up for a short time to get you to behave then so be it," Emma continued, ignoring Gold's attitude.

Letting go of the bars, Gold sank down onto the flimsy bunk inside the cell. A mischievous grin suddenly pulled at his lips as a thought struck him. "Who's to say you can even keep me in here? With my powers I can come and go as I please and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"You won't try to escape," Emma answered smugly, her features mirroring his arrogance. She stepped up to the cell to look him in the eye.

"And why's that Miss Swan?" Gold challenged.

"You wouldn't want to disappoint Belle." Emma's words silenced him as his gaze fell on said woman, her blue eyes imploring him to cooperate. Emma took his stillness as a sign of agreement. She returned to her desk and left Belle and Gold to finish their chat.

Belle stayed by Gold's side for as long as Emma would allow. When it was time to go she stole one last kiss before turning to leave.

"What, no goodbye kiss for me love?" Jones called after Belle. He chuckled when Gold growled at him in response. "Well, well, well Crocodile, looks like it's just us now." Hook sidled up to the wall of bars connecting the two cells and lazily leaned against them. "I'm going to enjoy seeing you suffer in here with me."

Emma didn't trust her two prisoners to be left alone all night, completely unsupervised so she and David decided to take turns standing watch. Emma knew from experience that Gold would refuse to sleep while behind bars and even more so with Hook only a few short feet away. What she didn't expect was Jones becoming a chatter box, blathering on and on about everything, anything, and nothing at all. At one point during David's shift the pirate went completely silent. His first thought was that Hook had finally talked himself out but he soon discovered that was the farthest thing from the truth. He found Gold sitting on his cot with his fist tightly clenched in the air and Hook silently making angry gestures in return. It took several minutes but David finally convinced Gold to give the captain his voice back. When Emma found out about Gold's little trick she wasn't the least bit surprised. She considered herself lucky that that was all he'd done to Hook.

Early the next morning Emma had briefly stepped out, missing whatever smart remark Jones had made to Gold. She returned to find Hook pinned to the wall gasping for air.

"Knock it off Gold!" Emma shouted as she raced over to the cells. "I told you that you weren't allowed to use magic. You want me to extend your sentence?" Hook dropped to the floor with a thud as Gold released his hold on him.

"Actually Sheriff, I believe you said that I was not to use magic to _escape_," Gold observed with a devilish smirk. "And since we are discussing the terms of my sentence, I've yet to be informed as to how long you intend to keep me here."

Emma scowled, oh how the man loved to trifle with technicalities, but she realized he was right. "One week, unless you intend to keep attacking Hook."

Gold's eyes flickered to the pirate who was still on the floor recovering. "Only if he continues to be an ass."

Emma realized then that if Gold was going to remain here his powers would need to be reined in. By the time David arrived with the prisoners' breakfasts Emma had made up her mind on how to solve this problem.

"Keep an eye on them will you, I need to go talk to someone." She was out the door before David could ask questions. He shrugged assuming it must be important as he distributed the meals Mary Margret had prepared.

Emma returned an hour later with Regina in tow.

The Queen's presence halted the steadily escalating argument Gold and Hook were in the middle of as she entered the room. Gold eyed both women, not sure who to be more upset with. "What is _she_ doing here?"

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise. I never thought I'd see you behind bars again Mr. Gold." Regina's lips curled into a wicked sneer as she came closer to his cell. "Miss Swan told me she was having some trouble with a prisoner and wanted to know if I could help." The Queen relished the horrified look that passed over Gold's features as she waved her hand over the cell. The metal shimmered for a second before the magic dissipated into the air.

"Regina!" Gold roared, his teeth bared. The magic crackled around the bars as he grasped them for support. He felt a slight burning sensation where his skin came into contact with the metal. With a hiss he yanked back his hand. "What have you done?"

Emma and David had been watching silently. She prayed she had made the right choice in calling on Regina to help. "Yeah what did you do?"

Regina smiled. "A containment charm. His powers are confined to his cell now. Any spell or curse he attempts will be neutralized."

"But what about the bars, are they going to burn whoever touches them –" Emma began to ask but was interrupted by Gold.

"It's a side effect of the charm, it will only affect me," he answered crossly.

Hook began to howl with laughter as the Dark One sat dejectedly on his bunk. "Well done Your Majesty! Thank you for leveling the playing field. I'd applaud you but…" Hook raised his missing hand.

Regina ignored the pirate and turned on her heel to head for the door. "If that's all you'll be needing I have to get back to work. Enjoy your stay Gold. Sheriff Swan, Deputy Nolan."

For the remainder of the day Gold sat in his cell staring icily at Emma. She was certain he was imagining creative ways to kill her after this is all over.

Again Emma and David took turns on night watch. That night Hook had taken to singing shanties, at one point improvising lyrics about the spork that had come with his evening meal, an object he had recently become fascinated by. Gold remained deathly silent throughout the night, which worried Emma to some degree but at least he was behaving.

Three days later...

Emma came sprinting into the sheriff's station panting as she came to a halt just inside the doorway. She was almost back to the apartment when her cell rang. It was David urging her to get back down to the station immediately. When she arrived she found her father standing in the middle of the room, a terrified expression on his face as he stared in the direction of Gold's cell. Her first thought was that Gold had escaped somehow, but that should have been impossible since Regina had enchanted the cell, which was cloaked in the darkness of early morning shadows that obscured its occupant.

Emma glanced over at Hook's cell and saw him sitting on his bunk with his knees drawn up to his chest wearing the same terrified look as David. It was only then that Emma noticed a peculiar sound coming from the furthest corner of jail. Laughter, a deep throaty chuckle that was broken and maniacal.

"Please make him stop," Hook begged.

David grabbed her arm as Emma made to get closer. "Stay back Emma!"

"Is that Gold?" Her brow was knit with confusion as she turned to face her father, David nodded. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Charming tore his eyes from the cell to stare at his daughter.

"How long's he been like this?" Emma strained as she peered into the gloom.

"He started just after we traded shifts. I thought he would stop but…" David's voice trailed off. Emma shook off his protective hand and slowly began to creep forward. A flicker of movement from the corner caught her eye.

"Any idea what set him off?" Emma was close enough to see Gold's jacket carelessly strewn across the bunk, raising several red flags in her mind.

David shook his head, "My guess is Hook did something."

Her head whipped around to glare at the troublesome pirate, "Alright what did you do?"

Jones smiled innocently at the sheriff, "Nothing." Emma crossed her arms, not buying it. "Fine, I may have provoked him a bit, but it was all in good fun, I swear."

"Sure it was," Emma scoffed. "You weren't singing again were you?" she added as an afterthought. Hook replied with a sheepish grin. She rolled her eyes and went back to investigating the other cell.

The eerie laughter continued. "Mr. Gold?" she called out uncertainly, "Are you okay?" The room suddenly went quite. The deafening silence was almost worse than the horrible laughter as she waited for a response.

"Yes Miss Swan, I'm quite alright," Gold finally answered, his voice was as calm and even as ever as it drifted out of the shadows. Emma looked back at David who was just as baffled as she was.

Hook abruptly stood and stepped closer to the wall of bars that separated the two cells. "What the hell are you playing at you imp?" Instantly Gold sprang from the shadows and pressed himself against the bars, his hand shot out to wrap around the captain's throat.

"Gold, let him go!" Emma shouted. She pushed aside her leather jacket, ready to draw her sidearm.

"Let him go? Oh no, no, no dearie, I couldn't possibly do that." The sudden shift in Gold's voice was astonishingly quick. The strange new tone was like a warped version of the man Emma thought she knew, twisted and laced with insanity, nothing like the poised pawnbroker she was used to dealing with.

David ran forward and dragged Emma back to a safe distance. "What are you doing? We have to help Hook before Gold kills him," she protested.

There was a worried look in David's eyes. "I've seen him like this before, when we had him locked up below our castle in the Enchanted Forest. It's best if you stay back, there's no telling what he'll do."

"He can't hurt us; his powers are useless in there," Emma reminded him.

"Still, we need a plan," David argued.

"Yes well magic or not he's still doing a bloody good job of choking me," Hook croaked as he struggled in Gold's grip. An evil smile spread across Gold's face as he watched the pirate squirm.

"Okay David, go call Belle, tell her to get down here immediately. I'll go save Hook." David nodded and rushed to the nearest phone. Taking a deep breath Emma marched back to the cells.

Trying to keep her voice even she addressed Mr. Gold again, "Gold, release Hook or I'll resort to using force." Still maintaining his hold on the captain's throat, Gold turned his malevolent glare on the sheriff. She began to reach for her gun.

"Very well then," he growled. He shoved Hook away with enough force to send the man sprawling back onto his cot then sprang over to the front of the cell to face Emma.

Emma stared in amazement at the normally composed pawnshop owner. She wouldn't have believed that she was talking to the same person had he not been right in front of her. "What happened to you?" she asked, speaking more to herself than to Gold.

His features twisted into an unsettling impish grin. "Why whatever do you mean dearie?"

By the time Belle arrived Hook was again taunting the Dark One. He'd learned his lesson though and was making sure to stay just out of Gold's reach. No amount of warnings from Emma or David kept him from backing down.

The two prisoners had taken to trading insults and mocking each other. Belle entered the station just in time to watch Gold leap onto the lower crossbar to tower over the pirate as he flung a particularly personal and stinging remark at Hook. He giggled in delight as his words hit home causing Jones to slump against the opposite wall in defeat. "Aw, giving up so soon?" Gold pouted. "I was just getting started," he finished with a snarl.

"Rumplestiltskin!" Upon hearing his name, Gold suddenly became very still. He remained hanging from the bars, ignoring the burning sensation in his hands from the enchanted metal. He turned his head in the direction of the speaker and beamed when his eyes lit upon his True Love.

"Belle." His voice dropped back down to its normal register but only for a second. "Come to pay the monster a visit dearie?" Gold asked with a manic grin, the childlike giddiness that masked the darkness beneath returning instantly.

Belle stood, speechless. It was strange hearing the voice of the golden skinned imp come from the ordinary looking man. Belle rounded on the sheriff and the prince turned deputy. "What's wrong with him?"

They both shrugged. "We don't know," Emma admitted.

"How can you _not_ know? You two have been here the whole time. Why is he acting like this?" Tears stung her eyes as she pleaded with them for answers.

"We're trying to figure that out Belle. That's why we called you. We thought you might be able to give us some insight."

"I doubt I'll be much help." Belle paused then asked, "Has anything unusual happened to him?"

David shrugged, "I don't know about unusual but I know he's had a headache for the past few days. It's made him pretty irritable. I tried to give him some aspirin but he refused to take it. He's not been getting much sleep either which probably isn't helping." He turned to Emma conspiratorially, "You don't think Regina's spell had anything to do with this do you?"

"Regina's what?" Belle's gut twisted at the mention of the Queen. Knowing that she might have played a part in whatever was happening only made her more uneasy. "What are you not telling me?"

Emma quickly explained how she had had Regina come down and contain Gold's magic. Belle stared at her in utter disbelief. How could Emma trust Regina given their history? Gold had been trapped in here for days without his magic, it was no wonder he was going insane. She wished that they had included her in this little endeavor; she might have been able to talk them out of it. But it was too late and the deed was done, Belle could only pray that this was not Regina's doing.

"Has he eaten or drank anything out of the ordinary?" Belle inquired, getting back to finding a solution to their problem.

David pondered her question, "No. And now that you mention it he hasn't really been eating much. Could not eating cause _this_?"

An idea suddenly struck Emma. She grabbed Belle by the shoulders and spoke with a sudden sense of urgency, "Belle how much coffee does Gold drink in a day?"

"Coffee?" Belle frowned. "Um a few cups I guess. He always has at least two before leaving in the morning. Why? What has that got to do with this?"

Emma mentally kicked herself. "Caffeine! Why didn't I see it sooner? " Charming and Belle regarded her with confusion. "I think Gold's suffering from withdrawal." Before she could explain further a loud crash and a yelp from Hook interrupted their conversation. Looking over they saw that Gold, still perched atop the bars, had caught hold of Hook again this time by the hair. Apparently the captain had decided to charge at him, probably hoping to knock Gold down from his pedestal.

"Not again," Emma sighed. "Gold what did I tell you?" she yelled. He responded with a high-pitched cackle.

"Please, let me go to him, maybe I can calm him down," Belle begged. "He won't hurt me, I know it."

David was about to deny her request but Emma cut him off. "Fine. David, let her in. She might be able to keep him occupied til I get back."

"Where are you going?"

"Down to Granny's."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" David inquired after her. He didn't trust Rumplestiltskin on a good day and in his current state there'd be no telling what might happen.

"Let's hope so. It's all we've got." Emma ran out the door leaving David and Belle alone to deal with the unruly inmate. David removed the keys from his pocket and carefully unlocked the door. He opened it just enough to allow Belle to slip inside then quickly locked it behind her.

"Be careful. I'll be just over there if you need me." Belle nodded as David moved away to give her some privacy.

Gold was so focused on causing the pirate pain that he failed to notice Belle's presence. Cautiously she approached him and gently called out to him. Her voice pulled his attention away from his victim. He tilted his head to the side to regard his visitor.

"Look whose come to join me!" he exclaimed gleefully, yanking Hook closer to the bars. "You really shouldn't have come in here dearie, things are about to get messy." Gold placed his free hand under Hook's chin as he tightened his grip on the back of the pirate's head.

"No don't!" Belle cried as she realized his intentions. She took hold of his arm, stopping him before he could snap the captain's neck. "Rumple please stop! This isn't you." The distress in Belle's voice forced Gold to come to his senses. His grip on Hook loosened enough to allow the pirate to scramble away to the safety of the far corner. Slowly, with a little help from Belle, Gold stepped down and stood before her. The top buttons of his dark dress shirt were undone and with no tie or suit jacket Gold was the most disheveled Belle had ever seen him.

Rumplestiltskin advanced on her menacingly. "Why won't you people let me dispose of this wretch?" he growled through his teeth.

Belle stood her ground, refusing to show him fear. "Because as much as you hate him, Hook doesn't deserve to die like this." She reached over and took his hand. The contact seemed to have an effect on him as the threatening glint in his dark eyes faded. "Come sit down." Gold allowed her to guide him to the bunk. Belle sat next to him. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and felt him relax in her embrace.

"If it's any consolation, I think you succeeded in terrifying Hook out of his wits," Belle teased.

"If the man had any wits to speak of dearie, he'd know better than to taunt the Dark One," Gold quipped with a crooked smirk.

Belle giggled at his joke then turned to a more serious matter. "Rumple, why are you acting like this? What's wrong?"

He shook off her arm, freeing himself before answering. "There's nothing wrong with me dearie, apart from the lack of magic." He waved his hands about in the usual Rumplestiltskin-esque fashion. "I have the Charmings and Regina to thank for that." Gold shot a scathing glance at David.

The sound of pounding footsteps drew everyone's attention to the door. Emma appeared holding a large to-go cup. Belle left Gold's side as Emma rushed over to pass her the coffee. The instant her back was turned, Gold leapt to the foot of the bars and was once again reaching for the pirate as Hook attempted to crawl back to his bed on his hands and knees. Gold managed to snag one of the Hook's coattails. "Oh gods no!" the pirate shrieked as he felt himself tugged backwards.

Belle gasped. Emma groaned. "Hurry up and give it to him will you?" Jones bellowed as he was dragged across the floor toward Gold.

"Rumplestiltskin leave him alone!" Belle commanded. He ignored her. "If you don't do as I say you won't get this coffee."

"Coffee?" Gold repeated, glancing over his shoulder with mild interest. Belle dangled the cup in front of his face. With one last hateful look at the captain he let go of his coat and stood up.

"Sit," Belle ordered, pointing at the bunk.

To everyone's surprise he obeyed without some much as a grumble. Once seated Belle held out the cup which he eyed warily before swiping it greedily from her hand. After a cautious sip to test the contents of the container he wasted no time downing the warm beverage. The group watched as caffeine took immediate effect.

When he had finished he let the empty cup slide from his fingers. Gold groaned as his head dropped heavily into his hands. "Thank you Miss Swan," his words were barely audible but it was clear that all vestiges of the imp had disappeared.

"How do feel?" Belle hesitantly asked. She gently stroked the back of his neck trying to soothe his pounding head.

Gold straightened and gazed around the room noting that all eyes were on him, "Embarrassed. What happened?" He felt like hell but was glad to be back in control of his actions. The pain in his head was starting to subside but his leg throbbed from overexertion. What had he been doing?

"Caffeine withdrawal," Emma replied. "My guess is that it resulted in a nervous breakdown and a pretty wild one at that from the lack of caffeine and sleep. Good to have you back." She left Belle to attend to him as she went to check on Hook.

"Belle, I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me –" She stopped his apology with a kiss. "What was that for?" Gold questioned, confusion etched into his features, his mind still a bit foggy.

"You don't need to apologize. I'm just glad to have you back to normal." She pulled him into a tight hug to reassure him that everything was alright. "Now let's see if I can't convince Emma to let you out of here. The past few days have been rough and I want you home with me." Gold didn't have time to argue, Belle was already up and getting Emma's attention.

Fin.

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